Just ordered my second pellet gauge

[JimD]

I have a 177 pellet gauge. I bought it when I was trying to figure out why one tin of Crosman 10.5 grain shot great and the next two shot poorly. It gave me the reason. The "good" tin was pretty consistent in head diameter and the "bad" tins were all over the place. Some pellets were in each of the 10 sizes of the gauge - or beyond. I also learned that H&N "match" pellets have more consistent head diameters than non-match Baracudas. Kind of pricey way to find out these things but I like to know why things work.

I now have a gun that likes H&N Baracuda 18s, a Air Maks Caiman. It shoots them better than JSB 18s or one other 18 I tried that I am forgetting now. But I get occasional 9s and 8s at the 30 yard challenge with them. My prior 177 experience makes me wonder if at least some of these may be a pellet with a different head size. So I will sort them and see if it makes a difference. I will probably try and figure out if the one tin of JSB 18s I have is more or less consistent than the H&N 18s too. Or if the JSB are a different head size than the H&N helping to explain the gun's preference. I'll post what I find.

 

[mwc273]

Cool project.
And the pelletgage I hadn't seen before.
Might just have to pick one of those up!

 

[JEFFPPC]

Good luck. I have no faith its accurate. I quit using it. I weigh for matches and that's it. I measured pellets and sorted them, went back a day latter and resorted them, vastly different results. Pellet weights are all over the place. I sort to .02 grains. Lots of little piles but shoot within a given weight you get tighter groups and less unexplained flyers. Bought a pellet sizer out of England, not sure but I think it's only rounding the skirts but I can see that having a bit of value. I sized with it the last 2 matches and won them both. The gun was really working both days, TX200.

 

[JimD]

I don't have a problem with repeatability but the "measurement" you get with the pelletgage is definitely a matter of how you use it. If you just take the smallest hole the head will drop through it may be more consistent. What I do is wiggle it around a bit. I can get it to go through a smaller hole that way. But there is still a point where it won't go through with reasonable force. My results are not repeatable to the 0.1mm but they will not be more than that much different if I repeat the "measurement". Often I get exactly the same thing. But how ever you decide to use it I think it is important to be consistent.

My H&N FTs were only of two head sizes - a partial tin of 72 pellets. Almost all were 4.52 if I remember right and there were a few (8?) that were 4.53. I shot groups with 8 of each (a five shot and a three shot) and there was no clear difference. I then shot a target with the 4.52s and it was similar to previous ones (a 192 - not my best, not my worst). The H&N 18 grain are also only a couple different head sizes but are more evenly distributed between them. So I think all I've done is determine that H&N makes pretty good pellets and they are probably not worth sorting. I will probably sort some JSB 18s I have on hand. I'm interested if they are as consistent as the H&Ns. I shoot H&N Baracuda Match in my P35-22 and will investigate the head size variation in those too. I've seen more variation in H&N Baracuda 177 pellets before enough that it seemed to cause a little POI shift. I've found the H&N "match" to be more consistent and the FTs seem to be similar but I've found good tins of the Baracudas before too. I think it's a good thing to check.

I've tried sorting by weight before and not seen much difference but I almost always shoot at home where my maximum range is 35 yards. I mostly shoot at 30 yards. Weight could easily make more difference at longer ranges.

 

[JimD]

I've measured over 100 Baracuda 18s for head size and they were all 5.52 or 5.53 according to my gauge using my technique. That little bit of head size difference does not seem to affect accuracy at the relatively short range I'm shooting. I would expect to see that much variation in the H&N "match" pellets. I saw two head sizes in the 177 Baracuda FTs but almost all were one head size. The 18 grain Baracudas were split pretty evenly between the two head sizes.

I also measured a smaller quantity of JSB 18s I have and found them similarly consistent but bigger in head size. They were 5.54 or 5.55 with roughly equal quantites of each. They are not as accurate in my Caiman X, maybe it just doesn't care for the slightly larger head size. Or maybe it's the softer lead. There were definitely more damaged skirts in the JSBs (but that may not make any real difference).

 

[JimD]

I am not shooting well today, shot a 191 earlier today from the 5.52 head size Baracuda 18s and seem to be shooting worse tonight. But I ran out of the 5.52s and starting shooting some 5.53s. I was fine tuning my POI at 30 yards and had it nailed down with the 5.52s just as I ran out. To my surprise the 5.53s did not land at exactly the same spot. I was using my "two in a row" rule to try and make sure it wasn't me but the scope needed 3 clicks left to get the 5.53s centered. That scope has 1/8th MOA clicks. So about 1 click with a normal scope. Not a lot but enough to miss the X dot. I was surprised by some of my shots and pulled out the chronograph to make sure the velocity is OK. It is, the velocity of the 5.52s averaged 877 fps (7 shots) where it was last I checked it. Eight shots of the 5.53s averaged 870 fps, however. So a little different velocity and a slight difference in POI. Doesn't seem like I should need to sort for a .001 head size difference but maybe I do for this gun. I'll do it for awhile and see if I like the results.

 

[Corvid_hunter]

Larger head size would increase friction so there would be a corresponding drop in velocity (my guess). Perhaps the larger head size creates a little more spin on the pellet due to it sitting tighter in the lands and groves and you get the POI change?